Hetalia Christmas Tales
by Procyonpaw
Summary: Traditional Christmas stories with a Hetalia twist!
1. Gift of the Magi

_**Author's Notes: **__As I was thinking about potential stories, I immediately went to two things: Hetalia and Christmas. This story, which is one of my favorite Christmas tales, stars Hetalia: Axis Power's power couple: Austria and Hungary. There is pretty much O. Henry's famous tale with a Hetalia twist._

_I am thinking about making more Hetalia/Christmas Tale mashup because I LOVE Christmas immensely._

_Enjoy it and Merry (early) Christmas!_

_**P.S. **__The last line is from O. Henry's story. I could never come up with such a beautiful message to sum up the reason for the season._

XX

**A Gift From the Heart**

**A Hetalia Axis Powers story**

**Based on **_**The Gift of the Magi **_**by O. Henry**

**Starring…**

**Roderich and Elizabeta – Austria and Hungary**

XX

Snow was falling outside the humble apartment of the newly married Roderich and Elizabeta.

They were not rich, but they loved each other dearly enough to make a commitment to each other.

Roderich woke up beside Elizabeta on their ordinary bed.

Elizabeta followed suit soon afterwards.

"Good morning, honey," Elizabeta said as she plucked her new husband on the cheek.

Roderich returned the kiss after that.

"Good morning to you too," he answered.

XX

After that, the morning began within the household.

As Elizabeta was cooking breakfast and Roderich was reading the newspaper, they both remembered one thing.

"Today's Christmas Eve," they both thought simultaneously and they quickly gazed at one another.

After a very awkward smile, they both returned to their previous activity, but now thinking about what gift they should buy for the other person.

XX

After Roderich said goodbye to Elizabeta, he went downtown to look for a gift. As he was browsing at the shop window, he took out his gold pocketwatch – a last memento from his deceased father – to look at the time.

He sighed as he was reminded how his life could had turned out if his father didn't die so early and left him nothing because he didn't approve of Roderich's marriage to the Hungarian.

As he pocketed the watch, he passed by the window and saw something beautiful – a pair of tortoiseshell brushes.

Roderich closed his eyes and, in his mind, saw Elizabeta's long, luscious brown hair, which was the reason he was attracted to her in the first place.

"Ah," he thought as he entered the shop. "This will be the perfect gift for her."

XX

After Roderich left for places unknown, Elizabeta took out his shawl and went down to the other side of town to look around for her husband's gift.

As she passed by a storefront, she stopped and looked in the window to admire her hair.

After that, she sighed.

"If I wasn't so poor," she thought depressingly. "Maybe Roderich would have been given more money from his Austrian father."

Then, she kept walking past the brightly-colored stores and chatty, excited people.

Suddenly, she stopped in front of a watch store, for a chain – a beautiful, platinum chain meant for a pocketwatch – was sitting in the window.

She closed her eyes and saw Roderich taking out that special watch – a memento of the life he had.

"Ah," she thought pushed open the shop door. "This will be the perfect gift for him."

XX

Roderich went up to the counter and saw one of his friends – a Chinese man by the name of Wang Yao – cleaning the counter with such finesse that he looked graceful.

"Merry Christmas," said Wang Yao with a big grin. "Is there anything I can do for you, my friend?"

"Yes," Roderich replied. "I am interested in buying the tortoiseshell brushes you have in the window."

Wang Yao went to the storefront, retrieved the valuable brushes, and put them in front of the Austrian.

"You have good taste," the Chinaman commented, taking out a piece of paper and writing something down. "This is the price for the beautiful brushes."

As Roderich looked at the price, his world froze for a couple of seconds.

Gingerly, he took out his wallet and began counting how much money he had.

"It's not enough…," he thought as he fingered the bills and coins. "It's not enough for the brushes."

Roderich then shook his head in a mournfully and began to leave the shop.

"Wait, my friend," Wang Yao exclaimed, baring the Austrian from leaving. "I can make you a good deal."

Roderich shook his head again.

"I'm sorry," he tearfully replied. "I…I can't afford it."

Wang Yao nodded understandably.

"I know your father didn't approve of the marriage," he said in a serious tone. "However, I do want you to have these brushes."

"I am willing to make a deal that you might either flat out refuse or accept."

Roderich perked up, for he knew that his friend's deals are usually quite good.

"Sell me that pocketwatch and the brushes are yours," the Chinaman stated. "Take it or leave it."

The Austrian picked up his golden pocketwatch and fingered it, feeling the detail of the intricate craftsmanship.

"Do I really want to?" he thought as he gazed at the shiny surface he worked to polish every day. "Is it really that worth it?"

Then, he saw Elizabeta in his mind and he promptly handed Wang Yao the golden pocketwatch.

"She's worth it," he thought as the Chinaman led him back to the counter and quickly began packing the tortoiseshell brushes in a delicate manner.

"Thank you and come again," Wang Yao said as Roderich left his shop. "Also, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."

The Austrian waved back with his free hand.

"You too," he replied as his friend went back into his shop.

XX

Elizabeta timidly walked into the watch shop and saw her friend– a German woman by the name of Louise - busy putting away a Rolex back in the counter below her.

After the watch was put away, Louise smiled and greeted her friend with genuine affection.

"What can I do for you, my dear?" she asked. "Looking for a gift for your husband?"

Elizabeta nodded.

"Yes I am," she answered, pointing to the platinum chain in the window. "I want that for Roderich."

With a terse nod, the German went below the counter, pulled out the platinum chain, and put it on the countertop.

"I must inform you that such an item is not that cheap," Louise commented as she handed her friend the price tag.

When Elizabeta saw how expensive the chain really was, tears started to fall out of her eyes.

Immediately, the German went around and embraced the Hungarian to comfort her.

"There, there," Louise said soothingly as she brushed Elizabeta's brown hair.

"I hate being poor," Elizabeta whimpered to her friend. "I just hate it."

As they were locked in embrace, an energetic young lady barged her way through the door.

"Do you mind, Feliciana?" the German scolded at the young Italian.

"We are having a heart-to-heart moment here."

"I am so sorry, my friend," Feliciana answered with pants of exhaustion. "However, I really need that watch in –."

She then stopped and saw the Hungarian's beautiful, sensuous hair.

"My, my," she said as she approached Elizabeta. "Such beautiful hair…"

"I will pay a lot for a wig with this type of quality."

"Would you pay the price for the platinum chain for my hair?" Elizabeta quickly asked Feliciana, who was not only known for being rich but also known as a fashionable wigmaker.

Feliciana took the price tag and slammed a giant pile of bills onto the counter.

"Consider it done," she said triumphantly as Louise, in shock, started to fold up the chain and put it in a nice box.

After Elizabeta thanked her friend and went off with the Italian, she felt her long, brown hair for the last time.

"Was it worth it?" she asked herself as the two exited the watch shop. As she thought, she saw Roderich smiling with his watch.

"Yeah," she smiled softly as Feliciana hurried the Hungarian into her shop. "He's worth it."

XX

When Roderich came home that night, he was greeted by a short-haired, boyish-looking Elizabeta.

"Honey," he replied in shock. "Your hair…it's short."

Elizabeta blushed in embarrassment as her husband stood dumbfounded at her look.

"I decided to change my style," she replied sheepishly. "I thought…I thought it looked cute."

Roderich smiled as he hugged his wife.

"It's adorable," he said, kissing Elizabeta on the lips. "Merry Christmas, my love."

She returned the kiss to her husband.

"Merry Christmas to you too," she replied with an air of gladness.

XX

_That night, around the fireplace…_

Roderich and Elizabeta were sitting at the couch, watching the embers lick in front of their brick fireplace.

As Elizabeta snuggled beside her husband, Roderich suddenly remembered something.

"Honey," he started. "I have a gift to give to you."

Then, she remembered her gift and ran back into the kitchen as Roderich took the package from beside the couch.

Then Elizabeta returned with a small, yet ornate, box and placed it on her lap.

They both smiled at each other and exchanged their gifts to each other, opening them up with lots of enthusiasm.

As Roderich took out his platinum chain and Elizabeta took out the tortoiseshell brushes, their smiles wavered as they realized the objects they bought for each other were now of no use to them.

"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time to each other.

Then, they both smiled and held their hands together as they gazed at the fireplace in admiration at the thought that they would do something for each other out of pure love.

_The magi, as you know, were wise men – wonderfully wise men – who brought gifts to the new-born King of the Jews in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. In a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the Magi._

XX


	2. Home Alone

_**Author's Notes: **__Another Christmas story has been made! This time, it is based on young Alfred as Kevin from the famous Christmas movie __**Home Alone**__. I am aware that I only loosely followed the story, but I at least got the main ideas of the tale. _

_Anyways…enjoy and Merry Christmas!_

XX

**Left at Home in America**

**A Hetalia: Axis Powers story**

**Based on the move **_**Home Alone**_

**Starring…**

**Alfred – America**

XX

Alfred woke up one day and remembered only thing: a vacation to Paris.

"Everybody's late," he thought as he ran, calling to everyone to wake up.

When silence was the only thing that responded back, he looked in all his sibling's rooms and noticed one thing: they were all gone.

Instead of crying and weeping like how children usually do when they are home alone, he smiled happily.

"Yes!" he screamed out loud. "Freedom!"

XX

_Meanwhile…outside in the neighborhood in an innocuous-looking van_

Two infamous burglars, the short Arthur and the tall Francis, were visually looking to see if there were any easy houses to rob over the holidays.

"When the cat is away," Arthur mused as he drank from his coffee. "The mice play."

Francis proceeded to munch on his donut, which was in front of him.

"I wish we could rob with finesse," he told his partner. "It makes our art a lot more elegant."

Arthur then slapped his partner, causing the Frenchman to almost lose his donut.

"Your idiot!" the Englishman snapped. "If we robbed with too much finesse, the police will catch us."

"Just focus on finding a house that looks easy to rob from."

Sighing, Francis took out a pair of binoculars and started to visually inspect homes as his partner focused on drinking from his warm coffee.

XX

Alfred was grinning from ear to ear as he walked around the local plaza with an armful of candy. Over the span of a couple of days, he stole his older brother's money, watched violent movies that his mother would had definitely banned him from watching, and, among other things, jumped on his bed until he was too tired to do anything.

As he was walking around, he came across a choir and decided to listen to them sing _Away in the Manger_. As he was taking in the music, he suddenly got scared when he saw a familiar grey-haired, red-eyed individual moved to stand by him.

"It's Old Man Gilbert," Alfred shuddered, hearing scary rumors from his brothers about the strange gentleman.

As the choir took a break, Gilbert turned to look at little Alfred and smiled.

"Did you enjoy the music?" he asked the young boy.

Still a bit scared, Alfred could only nod rapidly.

Gilbert sighed as he turned back to the choir as they began to sing _What Child is This?_

"I am here to watch my granddaughter sing," he said solemnly. "It's a shame I can't talk to her since my son and I are not on speaking terms."

Suddenly, Alfred saw a side that his brothers have never told him about Old Man Gilbert. Tugging on the man's jacket, Alfred offered Gilbert a handful of sweets, which were taken with gladness.

"God bless you, child," Gilbert said with a smile as Alfred left to go back home.

XX

As the young boy was jogging toward his house, he overheard a suspicious conversation from a van that was parked nearby his neighbor's house. He didn't hear most of the conversation, but key words like _steal _and _rob_ caught his attention.

Fearing for his safety, Alfred sneaked back into his own house and began to create booby traps for the criminals.

"They are going to regret messing with this house," Alfred thought as he finished arranging the last trap and went to bed.

XX

_Later that night…_

Arthur and Francis broke into Alfred's house very quietly.

"Shhh," Arthur indicated to his partner. "We don't want to wake up the neighbors."

Francis smiled.

"Over course," he whispered back.

Not able to see in the pitch-black darkness, the Frenchman unwittingly stepped on a mousetrap and hollered like a little girl.

"You idiot!" Arthur screamed as he stepped on a switch and a water balloon filled with pepper juice was lobbed at him, causing the Englishman as much grief as the mousetrap did to his partner.

From upstairs, Alfred giggled as he saw the two robbers springing every trap he put up, which ranged from cream pies to a flying hot iron.

Then, the young boy's laughter stopped when Arthur looked up and saw Alfred.

"Bloody hell!" the Englishman swore. Then, he tapped on Francis and indicated his partner to capture the boy.

Quickly running back to his room and accessing the evacuation rope, Alfred quickly retreated and ran pell-mell to his neighbor's home, which was deserted because they were on vacation.

As Francis was about to swan-dive onto the grass below, Arthur, who was still rubbing his eyes from the various concoctions that were sprayed at him, tapped on the Frenchman's shoulder.

"I got a better idea," the Englishman said, dragging Francis toward the entrance of Alfred's house and then running toward the entrance of the neighbor's house.

Thus, as Alfred poked his head out of the neighbor's cellar, he was greeted by two weary, but completely pissed, criminals.

"Time to lock you up, you little bastard," Francis said as he hung little Alfred on a coatrack.

As the two thieves were about to do something bad to the young boy, they failed to notice Gilbert sneak in with a shovel in his hand.

Before Francis even noticed anything, he was knocked out by the shovel and fell on the ground with a thump. Then, Arthur turned around, was hit square in the forehead, and followed his partner to the ground.

"Are you alright, my boy?" Gilbert asked Alfred as the old man took the boy off of the coat hanger.

"I am now," Alfred smiled as Gilbert took him back to his house to rest.

As Alfred was munching on cookies and watching the cops take away the two thieves to jail, the young boy noticed one thing before he fell asleep.

"It's Christmas Eve," he thought as his thoughts drifted away, dreaming about waking up on Christmas Day and seeing his parents and siblings waiting for him.

XX

_Christmas Day…_

Alfred woke up to find out he was in his own bed at his own house.

"It's Christmas Day," he thought excitedly as he ran down the stairs to expect his parents.

To his disappointment, however, he didn't any of his parents or his siblings waiting for him.

As he was going to go back upstairs in disappointment, he heard his mother's voice calling out to him.

Now filled with excitement, Alfred ran outside to see not only his parents and siblings ready to greet him, but also Gilbert, his son, and his granddaughter sharing a happy moment together in the snow.

The young boy smiled as he fell into his mother's arms.

"Yes," he thought as his siblings filed into the house. "Life is good with family."

Suddenly, Alfred's oldest brother hollered in disbelief.

"Alfred, what did you do to my room?" he demanded from his room.

Intending to fix the mess he caused, Alfred ran back inside while everybody outside looked on.

XX


	3. The Nutcracker

_**Author's Notes: **__Ahhh…__**The Nutcracker**__…I have seen this play many times and watch dozens of adaptions of this wonderful story over countless Christmases long past. How, it has been Hetaliazed…_

_Enjoy!_

_**P.S.**__: I only decided to do the First Act (for any of you theatre goers) of the __**Nutcracker**__…I might get to the Sugar Plum Fairy business later…_

XX

**A Russian Nutcracker**

**A Hetalia Axis Powers story**

**Based on **_**The Nutcracker **_**by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky**

**Starring…**

**Ivanna – Nyo Russia**

XX

Ivanna was staring happily at the large Christmas tree in the house.

"Wow," she thought as she looked at the ribbon and tinsels placed on the tall pine. "Christmas is so wonderful and so beautiful."

As she gazed dreamingly at the tree, the doorbell rang.

"Honey," said Ivanna's mother, who was in the kitchen. "Can you please get the door?"

"Sure Mom," Ivanna replied and she went to open the large wooden door.

After she twisted the lock, she saw Matthew and Madeline, who were both old friends of Ivanna's parents.

"Merry Christmas," she gleefully said to the young couple.

"Merry Christmas to you too," they both replied as Ivanna got Matthew's hat and cane.

As Madeline went into the kitchen to talk to Ivanna's mother, Matthew bent down to Ivanna's level and presented her with a beautiful nutcracker.

"Treat it well," he winked as he handed it to the young Russian's palms.

She stared wide-eyed at the beautiful craft.

"It's…so beautiful," she commented in awe. "He's so handsome."

Matthew nodded and rose back up to his adult height to look at the Christmas tree in the center of the room.

"Ivanna," he said as he looked at the golden star on the tree. "This will be a night to remember."

XX

The party was now in full swing. All the guests were mingling about and the children were running about amidst the whole entire celebration. Ivanna was in the corner with the other girls showing off the new nutcracker Matthew gave her.

"Wow," said the other girls as they looked at the wooden creation. "It's so pretty."

However, not everybody was happy that she earned such a valuable gift.

A boy from the Belarus home next door, Nathaniel, was staring at the nutcracker with intense jealousy.

"I want it," he thought to himself as he looked at its bright coloring. "I want it for myself."

Moving on impulse like boys do when they want something, young Nathaniel ran over and snatched the nutcracker, using it to play a sick game of catch with the other children.

"Give it back," wailed Ivanna as she tried to save her gift. "You're going to break it."

Unfortunately, her premonition was correct.

In minutes, the nutcracker slipped out of a boy's hand and smashed onto the floor, causing the left arm to fly off in front of the girl.

As Ivanna started to cry, Matthew and Nathanial's mother came to see what was going on.

As Nathanial was being scolded severely, Matthew came down and picked up the arm from off the ground.

"I can fix it in no time," he winked at Ivanna as he took the nutcracker in his gentle hands. After that, he whipped out a bandage and fixed the nutcracker in an instant.

"There," he said, handing the nutcracker back to the girl. "It's all better now."

Through her tears, Ivanna held onto her doll like how a mother clutches a baby.

"Thank you," she said meekly.

Matthew patted the little girl on the forehead.

"You're welcome," he answered. Then, he left to join the adults and Ivanna went back to her friends.

XX

Hours past and the guests left the house one by one. After the last person finally left, the family got ready for bed. As her siblings and her parents were heading upstairs, Ivanna stayed behind to watch her nutcracker, which was but underneath the Christmas tree.

However, before she could move, Ivanna's eyes started to droop and she fell into a deep sleep right by her precious gift.

XX

Suddenly, Ivanna woke up with a start and noticed that everything – the presents and the Christmas tree – seemed a lot bigger. As she stood up, she felt a prick on her back. She turned around and saw a rat with a giant crown and rapier.

"Tie up the girl," he commanded and his soldiers came with rope. However, before the rope even made it to its destination, a knife came out of nowhere and cut the rope through, rendering it useless.

"Who dares oppose the Mouse King?" shouted the beast.

Then, a familiar-looking figure, who was surrounded by other soldiers, came forward.

"I do," it said in a calm masculine voice. "Sir Ivan, Knight to Lady Ivanna."

The Mouse King sneered and ordered his troops to attack.

Ivan drew his sword and ordered his soldiers to protect Ivanna.

As she crawled behind a present, she could see that the soldiers, who were few in number, were clearly losing to the legion of mouse soldiers.

Eventually, the Mouse King cornered Ivan and put his rapier to the nutcracker's neck.

"Say goodbye," laughed the Mouse King as he was about to end Ivan's life once and for all.

However, in that short span of time, Ivanna took off her shoe, the only weapon she had, and threw it with all her might at the hideous beast.

With a thump from the shoe, the Mouse King fell in front of Ivan unconscious.

"His Highness is down," cried one of the mice. "Retreat with honor."

As they cried sounds of retreat, four mice quickly retrieved the Mouse King and disappeared into places unknown.

"Are you alright?" Ivanna asked as she approached Ivan.

He smiled.

"I am now," he answered and the two shared a passionate, seemingly eternal, kiss.

After they parted lips, a beautiful white sleigh materialized in front of their eyes.

After Ivan got in and helped Ivanna sit beside him, the two were taken away by the sleigh to a whole new, wonderful adventure.

XX


	4. Christmas Truce of 1914

_**Author's Note: **__Unlike all the other stories to date, this one is based off a true event in history, which was a cease-fire on the Western Front of World War I on Christmas Eve. It's very melancholy for a Hetalia Christmas story, but I hope that you, as the reader, will enjoy it._

XX

**All is Calm On Christmas Eve**

**A Hetalia Axis Powers story**

**Based on the **_**Christmas Truce of 1914**_

**Starring…**

**Ludwig – Germany**

**Arthur – England**

XX

In the midst of the Great War, Arthur, an officer in the British officer, fought tooth and claw with the Germans that were led by Ludwig.

"Surrender, British dogs!" Ludwig sneered as he shot his rifle through the back of a retreating British soldier.

"Krauts are only good for running!" Arthur returned as he mowed down a line of Germans soldiers with his machine gun.

The battle raged on and on, with neither side giving each other an inch.

Then, on Christmas Eve, all the guns went quiet and peace fell on the desolated countryside.

XX

When Ludwig woke up from his quick nap, he saw, much to his chagrin, Germans soldiers started to build Christmas trees in their trenches.

"What the hell are you doing, you cowards?" he demanded angrily as he saw his subordinates decorating the machine gun area with candles.

A young corporal went up and handed his commanding officer a piece of chocolate from his rations.

"It's Christmas Eve," he replied. "At least, let there be peace on this godforsaken place."

Unable to say anything back, Ludwig could only watch as the young corporal helped his comrades raise another Christmas tree within the trenches.

XX

On the British side of the trenches, Arthur was shocked to find that the Germans were decorating their trenches with tinsels and ribbons instead of polishing their machine guns or attempting a raid on them.

As he stared through his binoculars at this strange sight, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

He took off his binoculars and saw that it was a sergeant under his command.

"Sir," he said. "Can you hear it?"

As Arthur took the time to listen, he heard the sweet sound of a Christmas carol.

"It's singing," he whispered to himself. "The Krauts are actually singing."

As he thought to himself, he saw a group of soldiers under his command singing a carol themselves.

Arthur was about to tell his men to stop singing when a hand touched his shoulder. He turned around and saw it was the sergeant again.

"Please sir," he asked, tears slowly dripping down his cheek. "It's Christmas."

As the British man saw this battle-hardened soldier getting emotional over such a sight, he paused to listen to the words of the carol his men were singing:

_Silent night, holy night_

_All is calm, all is bright_

As Arthur listened to the words of this beautiful song, he too started to weep as he thought that he almost forgotten about this special holiday.

"It's truly Christmas," he thought as he heard the British and German troops forming a beautiful melody with their song.

XX

After an hour of singing, one of Ludwig's men, a young private, did the unthinkable: He put down his rifle and climbed out of the trench, heading for the British lines.

"He's going to get killed," Ludwig thought in horror to such a decision made by this inexperienced soldier.

Suddenly, more of his men started to put down their guns and walk toward the dreaded no-man's land, which was a place filled with rotting corpses and broken equipment.

As he watched this scene, Ludwig saw that the British soldiers were doing the same thing and were heading out to greet the Germans with wide-open arms.

At such a sight, Ludwig, despite his strong exterior, started to weep as well.

"It's truly Christmas," he thought as he dropped his own weapon and climbed out of the trench to join his men in greeting their enemies on this blessed holiday.

XX

For Arthur and Ludwig, the rest of the time was a blur.

_There were mass funerals for the fallen soldiers on both sides…_

_There were swap meets of men trading buttons and rations for boots and helmets..._

_There were impromptu games on the battlefield with every man holding a smile on their face…_

_There were even more times of caroling and bonding as enemies hugged each other like brothers..._

"Sleep in heavenly peace," the two officers thought as they stood side-by-side, watching their men associate with each other. "Sleep in heavenly peace."

XX

The truce continued through the night. When the sun rose, the Germans and British soldiers solemnly waved good-bye to each other and trudged back to their trenches along the Western front.

After the last soldier was back in his respective side, the artillery fired again and the machine guns killed with lethal force.

However, as Ludwig and Arthur commanded their men to kill each other, they both thought back to that night, that holy night, were the night was calm and enemies could stand by each other as friends.

XX


	5. Twas the Night Before Christmas

_**Author's Note: **__I went through my attic and found my copy of __**Twas The Night Before Christmas**__ in an old, musty box from my youth. Picking the book up and reading it again inspired me to write a Hetalia Christmas story about it, using (out of randomness)the Icelandic couple _

_I hope this story evokes some good memories of Christmas._

_Since this is probably my final Christmas story, I hope everyone has an excellent Christmas and thank you for following my tales to the end!_

_**P.S.: **__I am aware that this story demonstrates something known as "selfcest," but I personally don't find anything bad about it. If you have comments about my decision, feel free to put it in the review section!_

_**P.P.S.: **__In the story, I included an Icelandic swear word to make it more authentic. Anzvíti means "damn."_

XX

**A Icelandic Night**

**A Hetalia Axis Powers story**

**Based on the book **_**Twas the Night Before Christmas **_**by Clement C. Moore**

**Staring…**

**Emil - Iceland**

XX

Christmas Eve was fading quickly as day turned into night. As the children slowly wandered to bed, Emil and Janna wandered into their own room to get ready for a long nap.

They both smiled at each other as they got into their bed.

"Good night," Janna softly said.

"Good night to you too," Emil returned.

After that, the two started to drift into a nice, peaceful sleep.

XX

_BANG!_

"_Anzvíti_!"Emil swore as he was awoken by the clatter.

Woken by her husband's swearing, Janna, quite annoyed, got out of bed and smacked her husband on the cheek with her hand.

"Quiet," she hissed. "You'll wake up the kids."

Emil, nursing his bruise, quickly apologized and carefully listened for any hint of the sound.

"I think it's coming from outside," Janna suggested. Taking his wife's advice, Emil threw open the window and took a look for any sign of that mysterious noise.

As he stuck his head outside, he saw the nice, white snow that draped the front of their home. Gazing closer, however, he suddenly spotted a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.

Now excited, Emil turned to Janna and told her that he thought he saw St. Nick outside.

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm going back to sleep," she said as she rolled back into the bed. "Once you get your aspirations of Santa out of your head, then you came come back to bed."

As his wife slowly drifted toward the land of dreams, Emil, who was convinced that he saw the big man himself, put on a jacket to get ready to go downstairs. As he was about to go down, he smiled as he heard St. Nick say to his reindeer:

_Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!_

_On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!_

_To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!_

_Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"_

XX

Emil slowly walked past his children's rooms and started to creep downstairs. He knew that St. Nick was at his house, for he heard the prancing and pawing of the reindeers on his roof.

As Emil started to near the family Christmas tree and fireplace, he suddenly heard a noise of somebody coming through the chimney. Suddenly, after a cloud of ash came sweeping through the living room, St. Nicholas himself came out with a bundle full of toys on his back.

As the dust settled (literally and metaphorically), Emil and St. Nick looked at each other face-to-face.

He noticed the twinkling eyes, red cheeks, cherry-like nose, white beard, and round belly he heard as a child. As he thought about his past and his devotion to the man in red, Emil laughed in spite of himself.

Not laughing, but not upset either, St. Nick winked and twisted his head in amusement. After that, he got right to work, filling up the family's stockings with goodies of all kinds.

After he did this, St. Nick went to the chimney and stared at Emil again. Then, laying a finger aside his nose, St. Nick rose through the chimney in a flash, once again spewing out a small cloud of ash into the room.

XX

After Emil recovered from coughing, he immediately went to the window and saw that St. Nick and his team of reindeer were pulling out, heading toward another house to give gifts to all the people of the world. However, before the sleigh went out of sight, he heard one statement that he would always remember around Christmas time:

_Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night._

XX


End file.
